Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon

        Since his assassination in 1968, Robert Francis Kennedy has entered into near mythic status as an iconic American politician and giant of the Democratic Party. His last name conjures up images of American royalty, and that title has been well earned by the famous family for all of the obvious reasons. They have been worshiped, mocked, reviled, and conspiracized (I believe I just coined a new term) in the way that only elite groups of people are. I could have selected any one of the literal thousands of books written about the Kennedys, and I have little recollection as to why this one in particular made it onto my book list. I certainly do find him interesting, he was a prominent politician during my favorite era of American history to study, and my collection of political campaign memorabilia features a prominent RFK display. I was pleased to have found this book challenging in the way great history books do: tearing down one's preconceived notions or presenting a figure in a new light. I had known Bobby Kennedy as the man who sought to continue his slain brother’s legacy, a martyr for the liberal cause, a person who’s 1968 campaign attempted to create the broadest coalition of voters to date. What I found in this book was a far more complicated man, in many ways more admirable than I previously thought, and above all else, incredibly human.

 

        Larry Tye focuses this book most intently on the last two decades of Bobby’s life. There are enough childhood anecdotes thrown in to make it a true biography, but I was not bored to tears reading five pages on a play by play of Bobby’s second grade experience. Tye makes an earnest attempt to show how flawed, and also loveable of a man child Kennedy was. All of the Kennedy’s relationship with their father, Joseph Kennedy, Make for interesting stories, but it is clear that Bobbys somewhat “second class son” status really pushed him forward as a young adult. He was not viewed as the obvious choice to fulfill his father’s dream of building a monumental legacy for the family name, and yet the “next man up” mentality that the family embodied when tragedy struck put Bobby into a position he seemingly never wanted to pursue. I am not saying that Bobby was a poor politician, but it is clear in reading this work that it did not come naturally for him. Kennedy had to work at crafting an image that was appealing to the masses. What he excelled at was the behind the scenes, down and dirty work of research, twisting arms,a dn bulldozing his way through a process to achieve a goal. He was at times completely unaware of his own limitations, in reality being a product of his privileged upbringing. That overconfidence did pay a lot of dividends, as he took risks and pursued big prizes that eventually landed him the role of Attorney General of the United States, under his brother the President whom he was instrumental in getting elected. Tye does a great job of highlighting this aspect of his personality throughout. 

The book also reveals the evolution Kennedy underwent throughout his political life, his career starting as a staunch anticommunist working within the office of Joseph McCarthy. This aspect of RFK’s life was something I knew little about and was fascinated to read details on how much Kennedy respected McCarthy and was highly engaged in the investigative work thrown his way. One anecdote just for fun, the first time Bobby and Joe met was at a dinner held by Papa Kennedy. The night featured McCarthy getting inebriated, slurring his words, groping a female partygoer, and having Bobby retire him to a bedroom for the evening. Not exactly what one would call a great first impression, and yet that incident did nothing to change Kennedy’s mind about McCarthy. Bobby respected people who were tenacious in their pursuits because that is exactly how Bobby was. He relentlessly pursued his goals, whether that was within Senator McCarthy’s office, ensuring his brother’s election, disrupting organized crime as attorney general, or furthering his own political ambitions. Bobby was not one to be dictated to, but rather preferred to do the dictating. This certainly rubbed many people, like Lyndon Johnson, the wrong way and made Bobby plenty of enemies throughout his life. I would imagine the respect many individuals had for Bobby would have been at least equal to their dislike for him if they found themselves across the debating table from him. 

        As a devoted Catholic, Kennedy lived his life by the tenets of his religion. The book provides details on how loving of a father he was, something he was not on the receiving end of as a child. Kennedy was devoted to his family,and many of the stories of the time he spent at his home with Ethel and the children are some of the best aspects of the book. However, Tye fairly points out how demanding the lifestyle he lived was, and that being an active father could only be done in fits and starts. This was still in the era where men like Bobby were expected to be the ultimate providers for their families, and the idea of him working any less would have been a non-starter. As far as marital infidelities, Tye does not shy away from the idea that Bobby may have been unfaithful at times throughout his life. The evidence is not nearly as clear as that of his father or brother, but Tye believes it was likely that dalliances would have occurred. This is an aspect of many admirable people’s lives that I often find disturbing, as I see it as the largest character flaw a person can have. I appreciate that the topic is broached in the book, not making an attempt to canonize the man but presents his flaws alongside his triumphs in an honest manner. 

I found this book a satisfying presentation of who Bobby Kennedy was and hope you would too if a decision is made to pick it up. The Kennedy’s are part of the American story like any other family, but occupy a prominent place in our history. They should by no means be placed on a pedestal, but their impact on mid twentieth century politics cannot be overstated and their stories are ones that will be relevant for a long time to come.